The present invention relates generally to the field of printing. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for bursting (i.e., separating) perforated paper stock in a printer. For example, the present invention is particularly adapted for bursting perforated ticket stock in a ticket printer.
High speed printers, such as inkjet, thermal, dye sublimation and dot matrix printers are used to provide vouchers, coupons, tickets, receipts and the like (hereinafter generically referred to as “tickets”) to consumers. Such tickets are usually made of paper, onto which text and/or graphics are printed, but may alternatively be made of any other flexible substrate that can be fed through the printer transport mechanism. The tickets may be provided in rolls of ticket stock with perforations separating the individual tickets in the roll of ticket stock. Typically, after a ticket is printed, it is separated from the ticket stock by a process commonly referred to as “bursting”, which refers to separating the printed ticket from the ticket stock at the perforation. After the bursting process, the ticket may be discharged to the consumer for example, via a bezel mounted in the front panel of a self-service terminal. Such terminals can be found, for example, in casinos (e.g., slot machines), retail establishments (e.g., lottery machines), transportation centers (e.g., train, bus and subway ticket machines), gasoline service stations (pump receipts), and the like.
One problem that sometimes arises when dispensing tickets to consumers is that the customer attempts to remove the ticket from the bezel or output slot of the printer before printing is complete and/or before bursting has occurred. This situation can arise in printers where the ticket is partially output either during the printing process or before bursting has completed, for example due to the fact that the paper path is shorter than the length of the ticket.
It would be advantageous to provide methods and apparatus for bursting perforated paper stock in which bursting occurs prior to making the printed section available for receipt by the customer.
The methods and apparatus of the present invention provide the foregoing and other advantages.